My russian fireplace / masonry stove

[sgcsalsero]

Had to bust out my camera.. remember the guy in this thread that said he had kids getting out of the shower and warm just doesn't cut it.. a mason stove is junk

hahahaha.. I got out of my shower last night. Felt pretty good

thats inside temp over outside temp.. 4 hrs later it was 14 outside and still 79/80 inside. 100% mason stove heat.

Holy scheeeeetttttt, you got it made man! Can I ask (as I was knee deep in cellulose last night), what kind of insulation you got your house (and possibly type constuction e.g. is your house a ranch 2000 sq.ft.)

Man I am jealous!

 

[Todd]

Where is your thermometer in relation to your heater? I suppose you have hot and cool spots throughout your house like the rest of us?

 

[karri0n]

I like the mason stove. I can't say I give validity to the claim by mha-net.org that "It is by far the cleanest way to burn cordwood", with all the cat stoves and re-burn stoves we have available today, but it does seem damn efficient. I have trouble keeping overnight warmth with a full 3.0 cu. ft load in my stove, and this thing seems able to keep the whole house warm with half that load for hours and hours. Also, if you happen to be decently skilled at masonry, with the right amount of research, I would imagine the overhead cost of building it wouldn't be so high, if your foundation etc was up to spec to hold the thing. Considering I have a huge brick central masonry stack in my house, I would even consider(many years down the line), talking with one of these heater masons to see if we can work out a solution and get something going.

Matt, congrats on the house, and the great find! Your pic effectively defeats all the naysayers.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

Churchie - its not always 80 haha.. it just was last night because I lit too big of a fire in it. My house is a 1970 stick built ranch style, 1200 square feet. I don't think that is including the attached garage, the masonary stove is 1/3rd into that and heats that to the 60's. Probably more if I never opened the garage door.
The walls of the house are insulated but I don't know what with. I seen it per the house inspection thru a hole we put in the closet wall. The ceiling has 14-16" of insulation. I think thats the number, the inspector told me. I will be up there next week and I will measure it. I do not know the R value of it but it is the spray cellulose type. Over that is a shingle roof and over that is a 3 year old tin roof.

Todd- That thermometer is approx 20 feet from the heater. My living room, kitchen, dining room, hallway are all the same room pretty much.. The house was designed around this heater. The temperature down the hallway was 76 when I took that picture, thats aways from the stove. I just put in special fans all over the place last night. They are working great. The bedroom was 73 and thats at the total opposite end of the house. I am working on getting more air down there. So, 1200 foot house and the temp dropped 7 degrees from one end to the other. With more fan playing I think I can fix that.

Best part was when I woke up this morning. 74 in the living room, 70 in my bedroom (opposite end of house), 4 degree difference and the fire was out 12 hrs ago.. the mason stove was still kicking heat as it's designed to do.

Karri0n- Thanks. I am leaving town right now but I will take some foundation pictures when I get back. It goes thru the floor to 12 feet of block in the basement! Funny thing about that picture. It peaked at 81 in there. Thats when I turned off all the circulation fans to attempt to stop the climbing. I will take pictures of my fans setup on monday. I have one mounted next to the stove on the wall pulling heat, I have another pulling it into my bedroom at the end of the house in the door frame. I also have a ceiling fan in the kitchen.

 

[sgcsalsero]

Where is your thermometer in relation to your heater? I suppose you have hot and cool spots throughout your house like the rest of us?

Edit: I backed off a couple thoughts based on a reply posted at same time

Masonry stoves distribute heat evenly and slowly, would you even need fans?

 

[karri0n]

Best part was when I woke up this morning. 74 in the living room, 70 in my bedroom (opposite end of house), 4 degree difference and the fire was out 12 hrs ago.. the mason stove was still kicking heat as it's designed to do.

Man, that's nice. I haven't been burning yet, just once in late oct when we had some guests. Waiting on that good check so I can get some wood delivered. My temps this morning - 55 in bedroom using electrixc space heater, 40's downstairs. Turned on the oil boiler, didn't fire. Either out of Diesel, or (hopefully not) moisture froze in the line/tank, preventing flow.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

The masonry stove was out for 5 hours when I took that picture.

I light the stove every 12 hrs with a big armful of wood. My firebox is about 12x 12. I just fill that with fine cut wood and light it up starting by the top (cleaner burn). The stove gets its hottest 5 hrs after the burn.

Karin0n - didn't burn yet? Oh man.. we have snow on the ground and 13 degrees outside.. we be burnin'.
The best part.. I have 3 ton of coal in my basement. Coal stove not on yet.

Churchie - Yeah.. fans are needed. Otherwise have a huge temp difference from one end of the house to the other. A better design would be to have this thing in the middle of the house. But then I would have to lug wood and ash thru the house and my garage wouldn't be heated.

 

[karri0n]

If we were anywhere else in CT, we would have been burnin a month ago. Luckily we get about 10° warmer than central or NW CT, being so close to the water. As far as I know,(Litchfield county might have) no one in CT has gotten any of the white stuff yet.

 

[Martin Strand III]

The masonry stove was out for 5 hours when I took that picture. I light the stove every 12 hrs ....

Please describe your "masonry stove". I have a masonry heater and I think yours is a different animal.

FYI:

1) A metal stove with a few chunks of masonry/soapstone in it does not make a masonry heater (not that your 'stove' is this either).
2) A metal frame fireplace with a masonry facade and masonry wall/chimney surround is not a masonry heater.
3) This is a masonry heater:

"MHA Masonry Heater Definition

A masonry heater is a site-built or site-assembled, solid-fueled heating device constructed mainly of masonry materials in which the heat from intermittent fires burned rapidly in its firebox is stored in its massive structure for slow release to the building. It has an interior construction consisting of a firebox and heat exchange channels built from refractory components.
Specifically, a masonry heater has the following characteristics:
- a mass of at least 800 kg. (1760 lbs.),
- tight fitting doors that are closed during the burn cycle,
- an overall average wall thickness not exceeding 250 mm (10 in.),
- under normal operating conditions, the external surface of the masonry heater, except immediately surrounding the fuel loading door(s), does not exceed 110 C. (230 F.),
- the gas path through the internal heat exchange channels downstream of the firebox includes at least one 180 degree change in flow direction, usually downward, before entering the chimney,
- the length of the shortest single path from the firebox exit to the chimney entrance is at least twice the largest firebox dimension

(passed unanimously at 1998 MHA Annual Meeting, June 8, 1998)"

Just wanted to be on the same page...

Aye,
Marty

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ I have a masonary heater. Sorry, didn't know there was terminology. I have called it stove, heater, furnace, brick.. you name it HA

The only metal in this baby is the burn door, clean out door, and draft slide.